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Caitlin Byrne
| image = File:Caitlin Byrne.jpg | imagewidth = 225px | known aliases = None | category = | gender = | base of operations = San Francisco, California | known relatives = Unnamed daughter | year of birth = 1966 | year of death = N/A | first appearance = Kindred: The Embraced: Prince of the City | played by = Kelly Rutherford }} was a supporting character featured in the short-lived Fox Network television series Kindred: The Embraced. Played by actress Kelly Rutherford, she made her first appearance in the second episode "Prince of the City". Caitlin Byrne was an investigative reporter for the San Francisco Times. She took an interest in Julian Luna, the so-called "Boss of Bosses" and tried to write a piece on him. Julian became attracted to Caitlin and used his resources to buy the San Francisco Times, thus elevating her status to city editor. Caitlin fell in love with Julian, but was intimidated by his mysterious lifestyle. She was unaware that in addition to Julian's more unscrupulous enterprises, he was also the vampire Prince of the city. On two separate occasions, Caitlin learned about the existence of the Kindred, but in both instances her memories of the incidents were erased. Biography Caitlin Byrne was an investigative reporter working for the San Francisco Times in the mid 1990s. She began putting together an article about the city's most mysterious millionaire, Julian Luna, entitled "The Most Powerful Man You Never Met". Through the course of her investigation however, she could not find a single shred of documentation proving that Luna even existed. After doggedly pursuing him, Luna finally agreed to meet with her at The Haven. Caitlin wanted an interview, and Julian was instantly smitten by the woman's beauty and zeal. He agreed to meet her for a follow-up interview, but one that included a few provisions of his own: He retained the right to not answer any question that he chose, but for every one that he did answer, she would then have to answer one of his questions. Caitlin agreed and the two later met at Mankzino's Restaurant. The interview did not go exactly as Caitlin would have liked and the most she got from Julian was a fake birth certificate. Julian's mistress Lillie Langtry disliked all women that were associated with Julian that were not her. She distrusted Caitlin and felt that her inquiries into Julian's past endangered the Masquerade - the Kindred's edict of secrecy about their true natures. Julian defended his growing relationship with Caitlin, citing that she could actually be useful, if pointed in the right direction. In truth however, Julian was extremely attracted to Caitlin and wanted to help her out. He purchased the San Francisco Times and promoted Caitlin to the position of City Editor. The two met one another that evening at Caitlin's house. After a respite, they shared a brief moment of intimacy before Julian returned to his home to conduct Kindred-related affairs. Late in the evening however, he visited Caitlin's bedroom and watched her as she slept. "Prince of the City" Caitlin heard a report about a brawl that had taken place at The Haven. She learned that the two assailants, Cash and Starkweather had been taken to the Suncrest mental health facility and drove there hoping to get more information on the incident. When she arrived, she discovered that Starkweather had murdered a psychologist and escaped from the hospital. Caitlin later interviewed a lounge singer named Elaine Robb, who had a disheartening encounter with the vampire Daedalus. Elaine offered a description of Daedalus and Caitlin attributed the incident to an unidentified murderer responsible for seven deaths in the city. She labeled the killer as "The Nightstalker". In truth, the killer was actually Starkweather, not Daedalus. Starkweather's reign of terror came to an abrupt end and Caitlin was one of the first to learn the news. She told Julian about it, but was shocked to discover that Julian was already aware of Starkweather's demise before it had even hit the news wire. What Caitlin didn't know was that Julian was responsible for beheading Starkweather to begin with. This was but one more element that continued to sow seeds of distrust between Caitlin and Luna, but it also made her that much more attracted to him. "The Nightstalker" Caitlin then began investigating a doctor who worked at the children's ward at the Bay General Hospital. When reports came in showing many of his patients suffering from acute anemia and malnutrition, Caitlin suspected that their attending physician was somehow involved. She showed a photograph of the man of Julian who recognized the doctor as a Kindred. He then had Daedalus go the hospital and kill him. Afterward, he made a substantial donation to the hospital. When Caitlin learned of this, she knew that the death of the doctor happened before anyone else even knew about the scandal. Julian and a few reporters were the only ones who knew that Caitlin was pursuing this story. She suspected that Julian may have taken vigilante action against the doctor, but when she confronted him on the matter, he insisted that he had no involvement in the man's death. "Romeo and Juliet" Caitlin's next project involved doing a human interest piece on missing children and runaways. The subject of her report was a teenage girl named Grace Dugan. Claire had learned that Grace had been admitted to the hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival. As it was however, Grace was a newly embraced vampire who was having great difficulty dealing with her transformation. Caitlin was present with Frank Kohanek and Sonny Toussaint at the hospital when Grace rose from her hospital bed and held a pharmacist at gunpoint. Frank managed to coax Grace into surrendering the gun, but the young woman leaped out the hospital window and ran off into the night. Caitlin later went to the police precinct to get a statement from Kohanek about the investigation into Grace's whereabouts. Frank, aware of the Kindred's involvement in the situation, cynically told her to ask Julian Luna if the Grace Dugan story should see print. Caitlin did just that, but Luna steered her investigation away from his vampire activity by telling to broaden her scope to see the bigger picture concerning runaway teens. The tactic worked and Caitlin diverted her focus away from the Kindred. "Live Hard, Die Young, and Leave a Good Looking Corpse" For a while, things seemed to be improving between Caitlin and Julian. One night however, after leaving Caitlin's house, Julian was attacked and nearly killed by a shape-shifting assassin known as an Assamite. A private investigator named Benning took photographs of the incident and they eventually made their way back to Caitlin. When she showed them to Julian, he could not provide her with a satisfactory explanation. Seeing the photographs terrified Caitlin and she could no longer tolerate Julian's secret lifestyle. She broke up with him, but found that living with such a decision was even more traumatic for her than staying with him. Despite the fear she felt for and by him, Caitlin reconciled with Luna and they got back together. "The Rise and Fall of Eddie Fiori" Although things had returned somewhat to normal, Caitlin suffered severe intimacy issues when it came to Julian. Although she was completely enraptured by him, she could not bring herself to sleep with him. Julian was patient with her and told Caitlin that he would wait for her whenever she was ready. Lillie Langtry however, was still intensely jealous of their relationship. Although Caitlin and Lillie had always remained cordial to one another, a silent tension emerged between them, particularly when Caitlin discovered that Julian and Lillie lived in the same house together. Lillie decided to get to Caitlin via one of her newspaper investigations. A Nosferatu vampire named Goth had abducted an infant named Jesse Doyle and Caitlin's crew began looking into the story. Lillie, aware of how dangerous Goth was, approached Caitlin, telling her that she was offering a $25,000 reward for the infant's safe return. During the conversation, Lillie drugged Caitlin's wine glass and she collapsed, barely conscious. Lillie planted a post-hypnotic suggestion, telling her where she could find the child. Lillie knew that Goth and his consort Camilla were going to use the baby for a blood ritual and she had hoped that Caitlin's interference in their plans would result in her demise. Caitlin went to Golden Gate Park as Lillie instructed and found the infant. Camilla captured her and brought her back to an underground cave. This was the first time that Caitlin understood that things such as vampires truly existed. She couldn't understand why any creature, even a vampire, would wish to harm a child. Camilla told her that in her human life, she had eight children of her own. In turn, Caitlin told her about her own past. She revealed that when she was seventeen, she became pregnant, but the father abandoned her and her family coaxed her into giving the child up for adoption. Caitlin always regretted the decision and swore that she would never allow herself to become close to anyone ever again. Camilla sympathized with Caitlin's situation and decided to spare her. She used her powers to put her to sleep and used hypnosis to relieve her of the guilt that had been weighing on her all these years. Julian Luna found Caitlin and brought her back home. When she awakened, he told her that the police had found her lying unconscious in the park and contacted him. Unburdened by the trauma of her past, Caitlin was now ready to take their relationship to the next level and the two finally made love. "Bad Moon Rising" and Caitlin visit a cemetery.]] Caitlin and Julian decided to take some time away from their worries for a weekend getaway. At Caitlin's suggestion, they drove to the Luna family's Old Mission Winery in Manzanita Springs. Julian owned a cabin in the middle of the woods near a cemetery and they were able to enjoy an intimate Friday evening together. The following day, Julian took Caitlin on a tour of the winery as well as the cemetery. She found Julian's original tombstone, but Luna told her that it actually belonged to his great-great grandfather. That evening, the sins of Julian's past came back to haunt him. Three vengeful Brujah named Cameron, Sorel and Clyde, survivors of Julian's 1985 clan massacre, learned that he had returned and coordinated themselves to ambush him. Sorel grabbed Caitlin in the middle of the forest and forced her to call out for Julian. Luna took the form of a wolf and leapt out from the trees to confront them. Sorel dropped Caitlin and went for Luna, swiping at him with his large hunting knife. He managed to deliver a brutal slash across his abdomen, while Clyde stabbed Julian in the back with a knife. Feeling as if they had successfully rid themselves of Julian Luna, the vampires turned into wolves and ran off into the night. Julian tried to follow them, but his injuries were too grave and he collapsed on the ground. Caitlin was horrified by what she had seen and brought Luna back into the cabin to nurse his injuries. The following evening, Julian awakened to see Caitlin at his bedside. He knew that he could no longer keep his dark secret from her and told her that he was one of the Kindred. He explained how he was once a ruthless and dark man, but has been laboring to keep his past behind him. He told Caitlin that she brought out everything that was good in him. When Sorel learned that Julian was still alive, he tracked them to the cabin and burst through the bedroom window. The two fought one another, but Julian was able to get the drop on him, pinning him to the ground and knocking him unconscious. The effort taxed Luna's body however and he grew very weak. He told Caitlin that only blood would allow him to heal. Caitlin offered him her own blood, but Julian refused. She insisted however and Julian was too weak to refuse her. She cut open her own wrist and poured blood into Julian's mouth. By the following morning, all of his injuries were healed. The more pressing problem however was the fact that Caitlin was now aware of the existence of the Kindred and thus presented a viable threat to the Masquerade. He told her that there were only two options available to her to resolve this. Either she had to be embraced, or she had to be killed - neither of which were acts that Julian was ready to consider. Though she protested against it, Julian was forced to use his vampire powers to erase Caitlin's memory of the affair. When she awakened, Julian told her that she had fallen gravely ill from fever. She maintained no memory of what had transpired, but trace elements of the incident haunted her in her dreams. "Cabin in the Woods" The future of Caitlin and Julian's relationship and whether she ever regained her memories of the Kindred remain unknown. Notes & Trivia * The character of is based on concepts developed by Mark Rein·Hagen for the Vampire: The Masquerade roleplaying game. * Although Caitlin Byrne was a series regular, she did not appear until the second episode. Quotes : "What kind of monster would cut a person open and drain their blood?" : "These photographs scare me. Your world scares me. Yeah. you scare me to." : "Right when I met him, this equation came into my head - multiplying the time that we'd be together by how long it would take me to get over him once he was gone." See also External Links * * Caitlin Byrne at ShareTV.org * Caitlin Byrne at Cyber Pursuits References ---- Category:1966 character births